Brunch at Bar Tartine [San Francisco]

I’m going to warn you now: there are lots and lots of brunch posts coming. Please don’t think I’m one of those dithering ladies who rolls out of bed at noon and stumbles to brunch on a weekday — quite the opposite, in fact. These days, I’m lucky if I can manage an omelette at home before running off to work. So, on weekends, I enjoy the luxury of several hours lingering over coffee and cocktails and something with eggs.

Today? Back to the Mission and Bar Tartine.

Bar Tartine’s brunch revolves heavily around bread, toasted and piled with various toppings, as one would expect from the name. Considering how I feel about carbs, and how much I love Tartine Bakery down the street, it was inevitable that I would enjoy myself here.

The real stunners of the day were these smoked potatoes. Unassuming, aren’t they? Don’t be fooled. Dressed in black garlic and somehow smoked in a manner that pushed the smoky flavor right down into their cores, but without blurring their rich potatoey flavor, I would gladly choose these over every hashed or homefried potato I’ve ever encountered.

This may look like just a pretty version of avocado and egg toast, but there’s some mad zippy mustard hiding under there. A total, sinus-clearing, delightful surprise.

Oooh those potatoes!!! Isn’t this place the weirdest but the greatest? I’m always surprised and delighted by whatever I order here. All these photos look fantastic, but I especially love the last one! Really well composed, and it made me laugh; my plate is usually looking like that by the time I remember to take photographs. I should follow your lead here!